LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 1 

llllllllliilllllllllllllllli J. 

_0 015 861 874 6 ^ 



991 ^j-^ 



COMMON -SENSE. 



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Entered according to the Act of Congress, iu the year 1859, by Dr, John Ander- 
son, ia the office of the Clerk 1?f the U. S. District Court for the Eastern District of 
Louieiana. 



'5'\'^* 



COMMON SENSE. 



Last Fall 'twas -to the South 1 come. 
Far from the North, my native home : 
Where I was taught from infancy 
That Southern slaves should all be free ; 
First read in primers, with tlie plates, 
Where Southern men broke niggers' pates, 
And cruelties were pictured there, 
In books, in sermons, everywhere ; 
In prayers, in common conversation. 
That slavery yet would ruin the nation . 
I've listened too, with weeping eyeri, 
.Ind almost heard pooi- niggers' cries, 
Where nursing infants with the rest 
Were sold and torn from Mother's breast. 
Of shrieks and groans, and all such trash, 
From murder, chains, down, to the lasli. 
Cuts and kicks, yes, lacerations. 
And sour corn, with half-starved rations : 
With bleeding wounds — 'twas them I. saw 
Crawling to their beds of straw. 
In Sabbath School I this was taught — 
In Tracts 'twas free as those I bought : 



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COMMON SENSE. 

Class teachers too, and commentators 
Call Southern white men aligators, 
Who chain their niggers to a post, 
And try who flesh could maul the most, 
Til] blood runs down from head to toe. 
And on them brine, they then would throw, 
In agony to keep them living ; 
Such treatment each day they were given — 
And is it strange that youths should think 
That Southern whites had ought to sink, 
Nailing their minds to that position— 
That's why they grow up Abolition, 

'Tis from my cradle, this I've beeu taught, 
Down to Tom's Cabin, which 1 bought ; 
And when sweet Harriet of poor Tom speaks^ 
The tears would trickle down my cheeks, 
Of cruelties of one Lagree. 
Who wades in blood up to his knee. 
And kicks and cuffs, and even kills. 
His plantation with bones he fills ; 
And of the damsel, fair and nice 
Who walks the river on floating ice. 
These things I've read, and have believed. 
But now I've found I was deceived, 
Yes. by fiction framed by scholars. 
Got up to get Almighty dollars 
To feed those morbid constitutions. 
Belieing Southern institutions. 
Twas Henry Ward and all the re&t, 
From Pap all through the Beecher iie^i : 
Bach one gave Tom an extra grctan 
As Lagree broke bone after bone. 



COMMON SENSE. 

Had they but lived in times of old 

When our Lord and master Judas sold, 

And been disciples. I should think strange 

If Juda8 had of got that change. 

For Sharpe's rifle Christians, who shoot and prav, 

Their master, I think, would betray — 

Preach to the flock to get those fleeces. 

With eyes intent on thirty pieces. 

Christians meeting day and night. 
Raising money for a fight. 
Their paupers with it better feed, 
Crying " Kansas, she doth bleed !" 
If in Matthew twenty-six tli they'd read 
Where our Siiviour to one with him said, 
Who drew hL« sword, whieli Avti.< not dull. 
And took an ear clean from the skull ! 

Did our Savlonr (^rUl a ui<'(;i;ing tlteit 
To buy the tool? tVn' killing men ? 
'• Put up thy sword !" lie quickly said - 
But Preachers noAv take otT the head. 
And to their Hocks up North they say 
■' Aim for the head, and bang away !" 
Enticing niggers from plantation 
To rags, to poor-house or starN'atiou, 
And beckoned there bv- abolition. 
"Tis said to better their condition . 
And when in frost they there arrive. 
Half starved, half froze, but just alive. 
And dreaming of a happy time— 
Abolition will not give a dime. 
Sick or well they cannot shirk. 
They must get up and go to work. 



COMMON SENSE. 

To dig or plow or break up boulders. 
Without a coat upou rheir shoulders. 
Look at tlie Northern niggers free, 
A]id what a picture do you see ! 
Ragged, nasty poor-house filled, 
Kicked and cuffed and often killed ; 
With empty stomacli, empty purse. 
Sick and sore, without a nurse — 
TheyVe got to steal, or cannot live. 
For abolition will not give 
A picayune to help a nigger. 
Or a red cent, a lower figure. 
They'd sooner see them sick or wt^l. 
Die on the ground, go straight to liell. 

This i,^ their help in Northern land-- 
No one is there to raise a hand 
No further than to play their trick's. 
Get nigger into politics — 
And Seward dictates every figure 
While he is riding on a nigger. 
He'd ride a nigger, ride a louse 
If headed towards the White-house. 
"Twas Anti-Mason first he mounted, 
But could not get it well discounted 
To undermine Masonic pillars 
And taring to justice Morgan killers. 
He's rode all hobbies — rode on mules, 
And tampei-ed with the common schools 
On these he quickly shut his mouth. 
At last he came down on the South, 
And cursed the Southern institution 
G-uarantied by the Constitution. 



COMMON SENSE, 

He cries a higher law at last. 

Disunion seeds sowing- broadcast : 

All must be slave?; or all be free. 

In his Rochester speech 'tis plain to see. 

And there he made another blunder-- 

'Twas there he stole Abe Lincoln's thunder. 

Which Douglas silenced when out a fowling. 

And sent long Abe back home a howling. 

He's trampled down and overrun 

The principles of a Washington- - 

Of Jefferson, one of the best — 

Of Madison, and all the rest — 

To this add Harry of the West- 

Of Jackson, too, that old hero. 

Who always met his country's foe 

In single combat, or at the head 

Our armies on to victory led. 

But upstarts now call them mistaken ; 
The nation's heart by them is shaken- - 
A thii'st for glory is the fountain— 
A flea is turned into a mountain : 
Wind broken hobbies all give out. 
They turn and look muJ go about. 
And think on whut new thing to tiguro. 
Like death they yet hang to the nigger 
Who is well fed and clothed also — 
But a shine they've took to Dinah Crow. 
And of their minds she's got possession - 
They agonize and cry oppression. 
They've talked it long and talked it loud, 
And tears would flow all through the crowd. 
Old ladies all with one consent 
Into hysterics quickly went. 



COMMON SENSE. 

And all around low groans were uttered 

Of poor slaves' bread, which was not buttered. 

Old ladies'all would at once shriek 

When of bleeding Kansas they did speak, 

Of murders there put down in figures, 

A killing whites to plant poor niggers. 

" Oh, lord !'■ they'd cry. ' Oh, yes !" and groan. 

For unborn niggers they would moan — 

Each word 'twas spoke they did believe, 

While Seward was laughing in his sleeve. 

Thought to himself a pack of fools, 

But polities needs just such tools ! 

He loved to hear tliem. shriek and whine — 
It strengthens much the darkies' spine. 
On which he rides erect and straight, 
Pointing to the White-house gate. 
Darkey must go it or he'll be skinned, 
He's rode him till he's broke his whid.. 
His hobby's back is getting lame 
Since they've played out the Ka,nsa8 game. 
And Greeley's head is now all bare, 
For Kansa,s blood took the last hair. 
Its gone witli Free Love spirit knocking, 
Bursted hobbies awful shocking : 
Nothing left on which to figm^e 
Excepting now the naked niggei'. 
And Gerret Smith has struck his gait — 
He wished to govern tlie Empire State. 
He run quite well got knocked so high 
He could have proved an alibi. 
The darkies would not vote for him — 
The colored folks his corners trimmed = 



COMMON SENSE. 

He gives them laud, aud deeds he make? 
For land so poor you can't raise snakes. 
When darkies see it. night or dav, 
They either starve or run away. 
He give? them homes for slaves piHjtecfcioD, 
The land so poor the Resurrection 
Will never raise through the hard pan 
Yellow, black or a white man. 
Where streaked snakes for pebbles cry. 
Where woodchucks starv«i and chipmucks die 
This is the land he gives to blacks, 
Where wolves despise to leave their tracks. 
'Tis done to help poor slaves' conditioit — 
And such is Northern abolition. 

Blow hot and cold all at one Ijreath. 
Coax slaves away to starve to death. 
To rags, to hunger, destitution. 
Sneering at the Constitution. 
And violate that compact made 
By those the corner-stone have laid 
Of our Republic, great and free — 
Their wisdom is wisdom for me : 
And when I see with my own eye- 
I tliink how long T liave read lies. 

See Southern slaves, much better off 
Than many North who growl and scoff. 
And who might envy slave's condition. 
Who agonize on abolition . 
And are not fed aud clothed each day 
As well as slaves who drive a dray 
In New Orleans or on plantation 
The happiest boys in all creation. 



COMMON SENSE. 

Banks may suspend and panics come 
It matters not — they have a home. 

Look at New York at girls tha,t sew — 
Talk of oppression, grief and woe ! 
In cellars damp, in garrets high 
Needle in hand poor creatures die. 
Does abolition hear those cries ? 
Are mourners those when each one dies ? 
No ! Abolition cannot henr 
The dying groans of those riiui's i)c;ir. 
Or even of it make a mention. 
The South absorb? their whole attention, 
Groans and death, yes 1 sorrow full 
They cannot see on account of wool ! 
They liire tliou' labor for one-tenth the i^ay 
They ought to hove, and that's tlie way 
That abolition shows its head. 
Let labor die for wont of brend. 
Snatching food from labor's month. 
Sending all their sympathy Soutli. 
Pointing (mt most cn'uel scenes, 
While whites»:vi'(; dyiiio' ihi-oiigh (heir niean^^ 

If now ;ii Ik fine tiicv would ('(.hihik'ucc. 
Abolish ciuelty. ^how comiuon sense. 
Keep all their howls for home consumption . 
There then would be ;i -^li" hi presunqition 
That honesty had took \]\'- li-uiou. 
Had settled down in ;i w:\v ri"i;ioii. 
Where, when it uf^l-- ii- full posses^j^ion. 
You'll liear no uiorr of nhivo o]ipnv-;ion. 






LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 1 

llillllllillllli j. 

015 861 874 6 ^ 



